Shock-absorber.



A.PETELBR. SHOCK ABSORBER. APPLICATION FILED Nov. ze,

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ilO

'UNITED sTATEs PATENT orriou.

ADOLPH PETELER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHOCK-ABSORBER.

w it known that I, .AnoLrir Pn'rnnnn, a eitxen ot the United States, residin at 830 1vVest Scventieth street, New ork, county ot New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shock-Absorbers, fully described and represented in the following specilication and accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

rlhcypresent invent-ion relates to a shock absorber having one arm attached to the chassis ot a vehicle upon which a body is carried by vehicle-springs, and the other arm attached to such body.

'l t is especially desirable that. such Ashock absorbers should control the upward movements ot the vehicle-body, which occur in its reaction whenever the springs supporting` the body have been compressed by a sudden jolt of the chassis; and the object ot the present invention is to furnish a simple construction to accomplish this' result.

It is also desirable that a shock absorber should, without any resistance, permit tree oscillation of the body upon the .chassis when traveling over ordinarily smooth roads, and the present invention furnishes a shock absorber which permits such oscillations within a certain limit, but operates automatically, if the oscillations exceed such limit, t-o check and control them.

The construction will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of the shock absorber and its attachments to the vehicle; Fig. Q is an edge view of the absorber; Fig. E, is a plan ot .the casing with the cover removed; Fig. l isa side elevation of the spindle and wings; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal central section of the absorber; Fig. 6 shows the under side of the absorber; Fig 7 shows the central part of the casing-head, the view being taken at right angles to that in Fig. Fig. 8 is a plan, Fig. 9 an end view, and Fig. 10 a side view of the guides for the regulator-block. Figs. 11 and 12 are a plan and side view of the regulator-block.

rl`he casing of' the 'absorber is formed of two part-s ot' sheet-metal stamped in the desired shape, the body having a cylinder a with flange Z at one end and an integral bottom Z at the opposite end with a cylindrical bearing-socket Z2 pressed out- Speccation of Letters Patent.

`receive the stem Z Taten ted Apr. 1, 1913.

.application tiled November 2G, 1912. Serial No. 733,594.

wardly 'trom the center of the bottom to torni a bearing for the bottom of the spindle.

i The cover is 'formed of a circular plate-f having an integral arm f/ extended therefrom and having a cylindrical bearingsoeket Z1. stamped inwardly at the center to torni a stuffing-box and bearing-socket Zi tor the spindle I. The socket h is threaded, and a threaded gland and bearing ZL is fitted thereto to retain a packing therein. rPhe socket-bearing Z2 is shown provided with 'an `anti-friction bushing als, and the spindle is formed. with reduced ends fitted respectively to the said bushing and to the stuffing-box, and has a squared end 1 projected outwardly from the stuffing-box to receive the hub of an arm g. The spindle has a bore 7c at the inner end to receive a piston Z,'and a bore Zr/zat its outer end to of the piston. A partition j is formed in the spindle between the two bores and perforated for the passage of the piston-stem Z, and has also some passage-holes m at the sides of the stem. The outer end of the bore is closed by a screwplug` m', the head of which serves to hold the hub of the arm g upon the squared end I of the spindle. p The screw-plug is formed with a central recess m? into which the stem Z may move when necessary, the holes m permit-ting the fluid to move into and out ot the bore 7c during such movements ot the stern. Abutments A are fitted within the casing at opposite sides of the spindle, and are secured in place by screws B extended through the casing-head. Z and screws B extended through the cover VT he vehicle-body C and truck-:trame D are indicated in Fig. 1 with the two arms ot' the absorber jointed thereto. The spindle has* wings n at opposite sides to vibrate between the abuti'nents, and two ports c and e are extended from the bore outwardly at' nient ofthe piston, and may be proportioned to hold the piston normally at any point between th(` two ports. The port c at one side of each wing receives the fluid pressed bythe .vings against the abntinents, and operates upon the upper side ot the piston to forro it toward the ports c. 'lhe piston moves freely under sui-hpl'essnre until :lrrested by the regulator to he lwioinultel' dosrrihed, which yarrests its motionv in soule position over the ports w; When it opens the side of the lports w nearest to the ports c, :is indicated by the dotted position l of the. piston in Fig. Y, it atl'ords a passage of eertuin urea for the lluid from the ports c through the ports c, to the opposite side of the wing. lf ther passage be of small area it furnishes :i great resistance to the movement of the wings, and if of larger area it furnishes a lesser resistance; and by adjusting the arrest of the piston it may furnish exactly the resistance desired to the movements of the shock absorber. This is effected by the regulator-block p which is mounted in the center of the bearing-socket Z2 within the bore 7c and has lan internal I thread to tit'a screw (y which has a shank g projected outwardly through the casing and Hattened upon its outer end, as shown in Fig. 7. A shoulder on the shank fits inside the foot s. The regulatonblock can be moved by the screw adjacent to the ports e', and determine the degree to which the piston Z may move and uncover such ports. An index dial r is shaped to fit loosely around the exterior of. the bearing-socket d2 and bears upon the outer side of the casinghead (Z, and is fitted to the flattened portion of the shank so as to turn therewith. A nut r is fitted to the threaded portion of the shank and operates, when tightened, to clamp the dial and the screw both rigidly in any adjusted position.

The; block '79 has grooves pnpon opposite.sids,`as shown in Fig. 1l, and a guide is` fitted to the bottom of the bearing-socket and formed with posts s to which the. grooves of the block are fitted nuova-bly. The guide has a foot s with tongues s2 itted to holes t at the end of the bearingsocket, which keep the guide from turning therein. The shoulder between the screw g and its shank gf holds the foot of the guide downward to the end of the bearing-socket. An indicator u shown as an arrow-head in Fig. 6, is fixed upon the casing-head d ad- Iiacent the edge of the dial, and the dial is formed with numbered graduations u by which it can be adjusted. inlconnection, with the index u, thus lturning the screw and forcing the regulator-block more'or less toward the port c.

The operation of-the absorber is as follows: A jolt of the truck-frame D forces the arms g and g together and pushes the wings n toward the abutments, as indicated by the arrow n' in Fig. 3, such movement forcing liquid into the ports e beneath the piston and forcing the piston upwardly toward or past the ports c, and the reaction of the vehicle-body in which the vehicle-sj'nings force it away from the truck D, pushes the wings in the opposite .lirertion as shown by the arrows n?, and torres the liquid into the opper ports c. lf the joli ing movement he slight, the oscillation of the wings is slight, and the piston merely vilisratcd hack and forth between the ports c and c. lf the nloinentuin be sullicienlly great, the fluid entering the ports c forces the piston upwardly past the ports c and permits the fluid to escape through such port to the opposite side of the wing'. .As the springresistance of the piston is nominal, the movement of the wings in the direction of the arrow n effected without any resistance, and the reverse movement of the piston during the reaction is also without resistance until the piston-movement is arrested by the regulator-block. The piston is` not arrested until it has moved over the ports e and exposed a portion of its upper area for thepassage of the fluid/from the ports e, into which it is forced in the reactionary movement of the wings in the direction of the arrow n2. The regulatonblock is regulated from the exterior of the casing by loosening the nutm, grasping the hub-portion of the dial r and turning the screw g until the shock absorber opposes the desired resistance to the'reactionary movement vof the body.`

vWhen the block is thus adjusted, the nut r is tightened, clamping the screw and the dial tightly in place, and the indication expressed by the index r can be noted, to express the proper adjustment of the regulator-block jolting in a certain degree corresponding to rough roads, smooth roads, or roads of intermediate quality. I

Each of the constructive features possesses a certain utility in the construction or operation of this device; the formation of the casing with a cylinder and cover both stamped of sheet-metal permits the accurate j production of the required shape with much less machine-work than is needed if castings be employed. The cylindricai box would,

however, be turned upon itsinside and the cover would be rabbeted near the margin, as

shown at oto hold vit centrally within they casing, and may be recessed at o for ornamental effect when turning out and threading the socket for the gland 7K. The fastening of the abutments A by the screws B and B secures both the head d and the cover f to the flatedges of theJ abutments, and thus resists effectively the liquid pressurey against such head and cover.

The arrangement of the piston between the port-holes at different points in the tornate length of the spindle permits the piston to oscillate without opposing any resistance to the wings n when the vehicle is running upon smooth roads, as any resistance of the absorber to the slight vibration of the vehicle-body at such times would only impair the easy riding of the body.

rl`he provision ot the regulator to limit the movement of the piston in one direction enables the resistance during the reactionary movement to be graduated in exactly the desired degree, and the dial movable with the regldater-screw permits the adjustment to be recorded for'reproduction at any future time under similar conditions.

'lhe formation of the screw y to pass through the foot of the guide s and through the center of the dial fr', enables the nut r to clamp all three parts firmly in position .when the regulator is adjusted, such clamping also preventing leakage. The use of' a complete circular dial instead of an index arm or fin-` gerv avoids all the accidents which are liable to happen to a slender projecting part like a finger. The dial has a cylindrical hub fitted over the bearing-socket cl2, by which hub itcan be readily grasped for adjusting the regulator-block, but such hub and the edges of the dial that they are which a projecting arm would be liable.

The provision of the piston, and its aut-omatic relation to the ports c and e 'and the regulator-block, avoids theuse of any .valves in the wings, with all the expense attendant to the construction and fitting of the valves thereto, and the expense is therefore reduced while the operation of the device is rendered more simple and reliable.

The relation of the piston to the four portholes, two being the inlet from one side ot the wing and the others the outlet to the opposite of the shock absorber to vibrate a limited distance without lany resistance, butI automatically furnishes the desired resistance to the reacting movements of the vehicle-body, when such limit is exceeded, and this range of free movement can be readily increased by changing the length of the springs 0 and 0 so as to hold the piston normally nearer to the port-holes e. he piston then stands farther from t-he port-holes e, whose closure furnishes'the resistance to the wings, and

would oscillate fart-her when moved by the wings before bringing the resistance into automatic operation. The distance that the wings may thus vibrate idly or without resistance is governed by the internal capacity of the bore 7c, which isv proportioned to re ceive an amount of the liquid displaced by the vibration of the wing when the arms of the absorber are moved the permissible distance without resistance. The capacity of the bore between the ports e and e is there-- lie close to the head d so free from any derangement to side of the wing, permits the arms fore made in the desired proportion to the capacity of the chamber during the idle oscillation of the wings. Such capacity being a maximum of the piston-movement, any lesser movement may be effected by proportioning the springs 0 and 0 to hold the piston normally nearer to or farther from the ports c. The proportions ot' the parts can thus be varied in the construction so as to suit different conditions under which the absorber may be used.

Having thus forth the nature of the invention what is claimed herein is:r

l. ln a shock absorber, the combination, with the casing having abutments therein, of a hollow spindle having wings movable between the abutments and having ports extended into its bore from opposite sides of each wing, said ports being at different points in the length of the spindle, a .piston movable in the bore between the two ports, and springs holding the piston normally between the ports and yielding with the pressure upon the liquid when press-ed between the wings and abutments.

2. In a shock absorber, the combination, with the cylindrical casing having labutments therein, of a hjollow spindlenhaving wings movable between the abutments and having ports extended into its bore from'oposite sides of each win-g, said ports being at different points in the length of the spindle, a piston movable in the bore between the two ports, springs holding the piston normally between the ports, and a regnlator-block adjustable in the bore adjacent to the piston whereby the piston first yields,y under the pressure of the liquid, and Vfinally restricts the passage of the" liquid past the wings.

3. ln a shock absorber, thecombination, with the casing having abutments therein, of a hollow spindle having wings movable between the abutments and having ports extended into its bore from opposite sides of each wing, said ports being at different points in the length of the spindle, a piston movable in the bore between theI two ports, springs holding the piston normally between the ports, and regulator to vary the movement of the piston under the pressure of the liquid.

,Ae ln a shock absorber, the combination, with the casing having abutments therein, of a hollow spindle having wings movable between the abutments and having ports eX- tended into its bore from opposite sides of each wing, said ports being yat different points in the length ofthe spindle, a piston movable in the bore between the two port-s, and springs holding the'piston normally between the ports, a regulator-block movable longitudinally in the bore to regulate the stroke of the piston, a screw tted to the said block to adjust the same and having a `ends with a shank extended through the wall of the easing, and an index-dial movable with such shank to indicate the adjustment of the screw, and serving also as a means to turn the screw.

5. In a shock absorber, the combination, with the casing having abutments therein, of a hollow spindle having wings movable between the abutments and having ports extended into its boi-e from opposite sides of each wing, said'ports being at different points in the .length ot the spindle, a piston movable in the bore between the two ports, and springs holding the piston normally between the ports, a threaded regulatorblock movable longitudinally in the bore, guides attached to thehead oit' the casing to hold such block from turning, a 'screw iitt'ed to the thread in the block and having a shank extended through the wall of the casing and threaded and flattened upon its outer end, an index-dia1 fitted to the flattened portion of the shank with graduations upon its margin, an index upon the easingheadto set the dial, and a jam-nut upo'n the threaded portion of the shank adapted to clamp the dial to the casing-head when ad'- justed, and simultaneously lock the regulator-block in its adjusted positie 6. In a shock absorber, the combination, with the casing having abutments therein, of a hollow spindle having a bore at both partition intermediate the ends,

of opposite Wings upon the spindle and ports extended into the bore l,from opposite sides of each wing at different points in its length, a piston movable between the ports, and having a stem extended through the partition, and springs applied to the stem at opposite sides of the partition, to hold the piston in its balanced position.

7. In a shock absorber, the combination, with a casing having an integral cylinder and head with a recessed bearing in the center of the head, and a cap attachedv to the opposite end of the cylinder with a bearing in the center, of a hollow spindle rotatable in the said bearings and projected beyond the bearing in the cover and open at both ends with a partitionv intermediate its ends,

wings upon its opposite sides and ports eX- tended into the bore from opposite sides of each wing at dilerent points in its length,

a piston -fitted to the bore between the ports and having a stem extended through the partition with .springs `at opposite sides thereof, a crank-arm fitted to .thespindle outside its bearing, and a bolt elosingthe open endof the spindle and having ahead to hold the crank-arm thereon.

/In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ADOLPH PETELER, i

Witnesses L; LEE,v THOMAS S. CRANE. 

